Hidden & Dangerous 2 Wikia
Register
Advertisement

Introduction[]

The .4ds format in version 41 is the basic format for 3D objects in Hidden & Dangerous 2. 4ds was also used for Mafia and Chameleon but in different versions.

Structure[]

For having a better and easier understanding, we split the file into three parts: header, images and objects.

Header[]

Each .4ds file has following values at its beginning.

4ds-header

highlighted: file version (here 41)

Map.4ds meaning example
first 4 bytes file format 4ds.
16-bit INT file version 2900 (41)
8 bytes timestamp 002E 9F89 5048 C301


Images[]

Here all images listed which are used. Allowed are Bitmaps(.bmp) and Targa Image Files (.tga)
First we have the attribute for the total amount of pictures. If you added a picture in your map.4ds file, don't forget to update this value.

It's a 16-bit INT e.g. 0700, 7 images.

4ds-num-images

highlighted: amount of images (here 9)

After the amount, each image is listed after the following structure:

4ds-image

image structure

Image
4x 8-bit INT unknown, activates Alpha channel (transparency) 0 128 63 15 (1 128 21 32)
4x 32-bit FLOAT Ambient color 0.5 0.5 0.5 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT Diffuse color 0.5 0.5 0.5 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT Specular color 0.045 0.045 0.045 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT Self illumination color 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
32-bit FLOAT shininess/glossiness 25
8-bit INT unknown 0
32-bit FLOAT opacity 0(0%) to 1 (100%)
8-bit INT amount of characters (of label) 14
differs label MAPA_AF3_2.BMP


Objects[]

The last image is followed by a 16-bit INT, which represents the number of objects e.g. 0A00 (10 objects).
Each object has a header, which is described below. After the header comes the actual object data. A list of all object types can be found here: object types

Object header[]

The visual object type and flags are only present if the object type is a visual object.

Description Example
8-bit INT object type object types
8-bit INT visual object type visual types
16-bit INT flags static collision?
receive shadows?
cast shadows?
16-bit INT father index (0: none) 2
3x 32-bit FLOAT position: x, y, z -0.192 -0.132 -0.273 (position relavitly to father object)
4x 32-bit FLOAT rotation: x, y, z, w (quaternions) 0.5 0.5 -0.5 0.5
3x 32-bit FLOAT scale: x, y, z 1 1 1
32-bit FLOAT unknown always 0
8-bit INT unknown always 9 for non sector objects
8-bit INT number of letters 10
Label unique object name "objective1"
8-bit INT number of letters 7
Label custom user properties "VOLB,36"

Visual[]

MeshObject[]
Description Example
16-bit INT instance ID
8-bit INT number of LODs (Level of Detail)
for each LOD
32-bit FLOAT LOD draw distance
32-bit INT extra data (length)
16-bit INT number of vertices
for each vertex
3x 32-bit FLOATs vertex position: x, y, z
3x 32-bit FLOATs vertex normal: nx, ny, nz
2x 32-bit FLOATs texture vertex: u, v
end for each vertex
8-bit INT number of face groups
for each face group
16-bit INT number of faces
Nx (3x 16-bit INT) face vertex indices: a, b, c
16-bit INT bitmap id
SingleMesh[]

Inherits MeshObject data.

Description Example
8-bit INT number of joints
4x 32-bit FLOAT minimum position? x, y, z, 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT maximum position? x, y, z, 0
N x 8-bit INT parent index of N-th joint
for each joint
16x 32-bit FLOAT joint transform matrix
4x 32-bit FLOAT minimum position? x, y, z, 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT maximum position? x, y, z, 0
end for each joint
for each LOD (from Object)
32-bit INT number of weighted vertices
for each weighted vertex
8-bit INT joint index
8-bit INT vertex weight?
SingleMorph[]

Inherits SingleMesh and Morph data.


Billboard[]

Inherits MeshObject data.

Description Example
32-bit INT axis?
8-bit INT unknown
Morph[]

Inherits MeshObject data.

Description Example
8-bit INT number of morph targets
8-bit INT number of morphed parts (hand, eye, etc)
8-bit INT unknown
for each morphed parts
16-bit INT number of morphed vertices
for each morphed vertex
for each morph target
3x 32-bit FLOAT morphed vertex position: x, y, z
3x 32-bit FLOAT morphed vertex normal: nx, ny, nz
end for each morph target
end for each morphed vertex
Nx 16-bit INT mapping from N-th morphed vertex to origial vertex
end for each morphed parts
12x 32-bit FLOAT/INT unknown
Lens[]
Description Example
8-bit INT number of glows
for each glow
32-bit FLOAT unknown
32-bit FLOAT unknown
16-bit INT material ID
Mirror[]
Description Example
33x 32-bit FLOAT/INT unknown
32-bit INT number of vertices
32-bit INT number of faces
Nx (4x 32-bit FLOAT) vertex positions: x, y, z, 0
Nx (3x 16-bit INT) face vertex indices: a, b, c

Sector[]

Description Example
32-bit INT unknown
32-bit INT unknown
32-bit INT number of vertices
32-bit INT number of faces
4x 32-bit FLOAT minimum vertex position: x, y, z, 0
4x 32-bit FLOAT maxmimum vertex position: x, y, z, 0
N x (4x 32-bit FLOAT) vertex positions: x, y, z, 0
N x (3x 16-bit INT) face vertex indices: a, b, c
8-bit INT number of portals
for each portal
8-bit INT number of portal vertices
3x 32-bit FLOAT portal plane normal
32-bit FLOAT portal plane distance
32-bit INT portal flags?
32-bit FLOAT portal near range?
32-bit FLOAT portal far range?
32-bit FLOAT/INT unknown
Nx (4x 32-bit FLOAT) portal vertex positions: x, y, z, 0

Dummy[]

Dummies are cuboids, mostly cubes. The 2 extents are two points in space which form the diagonal of a cuboid/box.

Description Example
3x 32-bit FLOAT minimum extent of dummy box
32-bit INT unknown
3x 32-bit FLOAT maximum extent of dummy box
32-bit INT unknown

Target[]

Description Example
16-bit INT unknown
8-bit INT unknown : N
Nx (16-bit INT) target ID?

Joint[]

Description Example
32-bit INT unique joint ID

Occluder[]

Description Example
32-bit INT number of vertices
32-bit INT number of faces
Nx (4x 32-bit FLOAT) vertex positions: x, y, z, 0
Nx (3x 16-bit INT) face vertex indices: a, b, c

Animation[]

Finally, at the end of each .4ds file comes a 8-bit INT value, which is always 0 unless an corresponding .5ds animation file exists.

Advertisement